Photos of ‘Lost Dallas’

We just received a copy of a new “Images of America” book from Arcadia Publishing, Lost Dallas. Written by Dallas Historic Preservation Officer Mark Doty, the book is heavy with pictures of Dallas buildings lost to redevelopment or forces of nature.

Doty is donating all of his earnings from the book to the City of Dallas Municipal Archives, which conserves official city documents. The book costs $21.99 and is available beginning April 23 at arcadiapublishing.com.

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The Baker Hotel, the downtown theater district, the Kress building and even Reunion Arena appear in the chapter about downtown.

Oak Cliff gets its own chapter, and there are several pictures I don’t remember seeing before.

Here is the Cliff Queen theater, built in 1914 in the 600 block of East Jefferson. It was one of the first movie theaters in our neighborhood. It closed in 1948 and was demolished in 1958.

Here is the Gothic revival Sunshine C.M.E. Church on Tenth Street. It was built in 1911 using timber from the original church dating from 1889. It was the oldest African American church in Oak Cliff and the first Oak Cliff structure to be designated a City of Dallas landmark. The building fell into disrepair, the congregation moved in 1970, and vandals stole the stained-glass windows. It was demolished in 1999.

It’s a shame that some of these buildings are lost. But there are some that remind us the true meaning of those buzz words “sustainable development.”

Here is the Sears, Roebuck & Co. building on Jefferson at Llewellyn, an old-school big-box store that lasted from 1947-1975.

And here is the Sanger-Harris store at Beckley and Kiest. It lasted from 1955-1975.

Both of those stores moved to Red Bird Mall.

Lost Dallas also includes photos and stories of the Wynnewood Theater; the Jefferson, South Loop and Astro drive-ins; the Marsalis Sanitarium; Texas Baptist University on Ninth at Lancaster; Oak Cliff Christian Church; Bronco Bowl; and Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts.